Hinging arrangement



July 1, 1958 n. n. bANsER w Hmcmc ARRANGEMENT.

Filed Sept. 18, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR flaf/arflflazrez B I Pa ATTORNEY y 1, 1958 D. D. DANSER 2,840,847

HINGING ARRANGEMENT Filed Sept. 1a. 1953 2 Shets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR UnitedStates Patent HlNGlNG ARRANGEMENT Dallas D. Danser, Flint, Micl1.,assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation ofDelaware Application September 18, 1953, Serial No. 380,934

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-128.1)

This invention relates to hinging arrangements and more particularly toa hinging arrangement of a spring biased differential type forautomobile hoods and the like.

Present day automobiles are usually provided with hoods of the alligatortype which are differentially hinged to the cowl of the automobile attheir rearward end and latched in closed position by a hood catch attheir forward end. The rear edge of the hood usually overlies theforward edge of the cowl and the contacting edges are curvilinear in thesense that they bow downwardly on either side of the longitudinal centerline of the hood. This necessitates the use of a differential hinge sothat the rearward edge of the hood will move forwardly and upwardly toclear the front edge of the cowl during opening of the hood. A spring tocounterbalance the weight of the hood is necessary as the entire weightof the hood is carried by the hinges at its rearward edge. The spring ispreferably of such force and is so secured to the differential hinge asto bias the hood open over most of the range of hood movement and tobias the hood closed over a small range of hood movement next the closedposition of the hood. The spring offers slight resistance to manualopening of the hood during the initial opening movement and then assistsin the remaining movement of the hood to full open position where itsupports the hood against accidental closure.

Hinging arrangements of this general nature in usage prior to thepresent invention required exceptionally powerful springs to insureadequate biasing of the hood in open position and suffered from thedisadvantage that the operator never felt that the hood was definitelyand positively held in the open position.

An object of the invention is to provide a hinging arrangement of thespring biased differential type for an alligator type hood or the likewith a means whereby the spring force may be reduced without sacrificingrestraint against accidental closure of the hood.

Another object of the invention is to provide the hood hinge arrangementwith means whereby the operator feels the hood catch in the full openposition and is therefore assured against its accidental closure.

The invention is achieved by locating a rounded catch or cam to projectinto and slightly past the normal path of movement of the spring nearthe full open position of the hood so that the spring will ride over thecatch during the final opening movement of the hood whereby the hoodwill be releasably retained in open position. The catch allows the usageof a lesser force spring than heretofore and imparts a sense of securityin the mind of the operator.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings: Fig. l is a partial side elevation of an automobile2,840,847 Patented July 1, 1958 having the hinging arrangement of theinvention incorporated therein;

Fig. 2 is a partial enlargement of the side elevation of Fig. 1,partially broken away to show the hinging arrangement at one side of thehood with the hood in closed position; v

Fig. 3 is a partial enlargement of the side elevation of Fig. 1,partially broken away to show the hinging arrangement at one side of thehood with the hood in open position; and

Fig. 4 is a partial section taken substantially on the plane indicatedby the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the'engine compartment hood 10 is securedby difierential hinges 12 on each side of the hood to each side wall 14of the cowl structure 16. The downwardly curved upper wall 18 of thecowl 16 merges with the vertical side walls 14 of the cowl, and avertical fire Wall 20 is secured to the front edges of the walls 14 and18 to complete the'cowl structure. The rear edge 22 of the hood 10overlies the upper wall 18 of the cowl and is bowed to conform-thereto.A suitable latch (not shown) may be provided'at the front end 24 of thehood.

The hinge structures 12 connect to the hood at each 28 and 30 to aL-shaped bracket 32 weldedto the firewall 20. A pair of links 34 and 36are pivotally connected at longitudinally spaced points to the bracket25 by pins 38 and 40 and by pins 44 and 46 to a bracket 42 suitablysecured, as by welding, to the underside of the hood. Suflicient spaceis provided between the rear lower side wall portion of the hood 10 andthe merging portion of the cowl walls 14 and 18 to accommodate thebracket 42, and the side wall 14 of the cowl is sufficiently spaced fromthe fender wall 48 to accommodate the bracket 24. The lower side edgesof the hood 10 converge forwardly so the brackets 24 and 42 are steppedto allow the pivot points of the link 36 to be offset inwardly relativethe pivot points of the link 34, as may be seen in Fig. 4. The hingestructure 12 is materially below the crown or center line 50 of the hoodand must impart a differential swinging movement to the hood in orderthat the rear edge 22 of the hood will swing upwardly and forwardly toclear the front edge of the cowl 16 upon opening movement of the hood.The rearward link 34 is shorter than the forward link 36 to accomplishdifferential swinging movement of the hood by causing the same to swingabout a movable center.

A coil spring 52 is hooked at its lower end 54 to the cowl fire wall 20by a bracket 56 secured to the fire wall by bolts 58. A hook 60 securesthe upper end of the coil spring 52 to a rearward link arm 62 thatprojects upwardly from the rearward link pivot 38.

In the closed position of the hood as shown by Fig. 2, the coil spring52 is on the rearward side of the rearward link pivot 38 so that thehood is resiliently held in closed position. In the open position of thehood as shown in Fig. 3, the coil spring 52 swings to the forward sideof the rearward link pivot 38 so that the hood is resiliently held inopen position. As is apparent from Figs. 2 and 3, the major portion ofthe path of movement of the spring 52 is on the forward side of thepivot 38 so that the spring will urge the hood open except during thefinal portion of hood closing movement.

A rounded catch or cam 64 is secured to the bracket 25 by bolts 66 andprojects into and slightly past the normal path or phase of movement ofthe spring so that the spring will ride over the cam and therefore outof and then back into its normal path of movement during the finalportion of the opening movement of the hood to releasably retain thehood in full open position. Fig. 4 illustrates how the cam 64 shoves thespring 52 out of its normal path of movement, positions A, B and C beingsuccessive representations of the spring during opening movement as itfirst engages the rearward edge of the cam, as it rides around thefarthermost projecting edge of the cam and as it releasably catchesbehind the forward edge of the cam.

The cam 64 provides a definite feeling of resistance and catching to theoperator during the final opening movement of the hood and therebyreassures him against an accidental closure of the hood. The cam alsopermits the use of a weaker coil spring than heretofore by providingadditional resistance to hood closure at the full Open position of thehood.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described fullyin order to explain the principles of, the invention, it is to beunderstood that modifications of structure may be made by the exerciseof skill in the art within the scope of the invention which is not tobe, regarded as limited by the detailed description of the preferredembodiment.

I claim:

A hinge of the differential type comprising a forward link and arearward link each pivoted at longitudinally spaced points to a supportmember and to a closure member respectively, said rearward link beingshaped as a bellcrank having a longer arm and a shorter arm, said longerarm including the pivotal connections of said rearward link to saidsupport member and to said closure member, said shorter arm extendingwith its free end in the general direction toward said forward link, a

counterweight tension coil spring, the lower end of said spring beingpivotally connected to the support member at a fixed point below therearward link-to-support member pivot at a relatively long distancetherefrom, the upper end of said spring being pivotally connected to theshorter bellcrank arm of said rearward link, said spring moving aboutits fixed pivot in a path of swing during opening and closing of saidclosure member, a stationary cam on said support member arrangedadjacent said spring below the rearward link-to-support member pivot ata relatively short distance therefrom as compared with its distance fromthe fixed pivot of the spring, the lateral position of said cam from therearward link-to-support member pivot being forward with respect to saidpivot, said cam having a transversely extending portion causing camengagement with said spring during at least the last part of its motionto the open position of said closure member, said transversely extendingcam portion having a contour composed of an ascending portion followedby a rounded crest and a descending portion extending into the path ofmovement of the spring for deflecting it laterally with respect to itsaxis, the final position of the spring in the open position of theclosure member being defined by its engagement with the descending camportion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,185,214 Claud-Mantle Jan. 2, 1940 2,272,230 Van Voorhees Feb. 10, 19422,354,789 Atwood Aug. 1, 1944 2,523,207 Fowler et a1. Sept. 19, 19502,712,149 Harms July 5, 1955,

